Opinion Off The Cuff

Will the demand for a caste census have a long-term impact ? Indian politics is known for its fascination with the caste. Political parties in India have often played with the innate characteristics of caste to secure their vote banks. The zenith was reached in 1990 when the Vishwanath Pratap Singh government implemented the Mandal Commission report to extend a 27%. reservation for OBCs in government jobs, apart from the already existing 15% for SCs and 7% for STs. The adverse after-effects were catapulted to nationwide protest by the self-immolation of a student from Delhi that created much uproar. The entire episode tended towards a tectonic shift in Indian politics and threw up several leaders in national politics who played with caste. To ride over the tide of caste politics, and appease the upper caste vote bank among Hindus, BJP’s iconic leader, L.K. Advani embarked on his ‘Ram Rath Yatra’, calling for a resurgence of ‘Hindutva’ sentiments. His manoeuvre was instrumental in uplif...

The consecration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya brings the idea of cultural Hindutva to a full circle in India   As the name of Ram resonates in the streets of Ayodhya, it heralds a new era in Indian politics. While the proponents of ‘Hindutva’ feel invigorated, pundits remain divided over its implications. With the 2024 general elections looming, this event will undoubtedly solidify the core Hindu-centric vote bank of BJP. The party has spared no effort in capitalizing on people’s fervor for this grand ceremony. Critics and the opposition have labeled the event as a classic example of exploiting religion for political gain, but alternative views exist across the country. Comments from members of various opposition parties reflect the political reverberations of this occasion. Rahul Gandhi of Congress has stated that the BJP and RSS have made it exclusively about Narendra Modi, while the leftist Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, has expressed concern about the blurring of...

The INDIA alliance formed by the opposition parties seems out of place Indian politics today is a rich game of possibilities. The bipolar character is heavily influenced by regional parties that are poised to claim their share. When throwing up a challenge to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the opposition parties thought it worthwhile to come on a single platform and give it a catchy name. Notwithstanding the ambitious goal, the INDIA alliance is going through severe turmoil. In reality, the INDIA bloc is a slightly modified version of the erstwhile UPA. Possibly, this change has been done to shed the corruption baggage of the UPA bloc. The core of the new alliance, however, remains the same. The troubles started in West Bengal, where the understanding between Congress and TMC collapsed on seat-sharing terms. TMC was so self-confident in facing BJP’s challenge that they sought coalition on their terms, and it spoilt the prospect. On the other hand, the Congress high com...

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  My article "Music for the Soul" has been published in 'Outlook' magazine's Weekend Reads section on 27th January 2024. Here's the link..... https://www.outlookindia.com/culture-society/music-for-the-soul-exploring-meditative-and-healing-aspects-of-indian-classical-music

There needs to be a complete overhaul of Indian education system problems The demand for starting inclusive education in India has been long-standing. A striking fact about Indian education is that compared to the number of students passing out of colleges , the number of students really acquiring employable skill  is very small. Questioning college leaving students, one would get a standard justification for going to post graduate or professional courses - “A higher qualification attracts higher pay package.” Or “Social recognition improves with a higher degree.” Behind all these there is an implication that a simple graduation does not provide the required skills to get a job. When it comes to shining in the practical field, Indian education scores poorly because the courses teaching soft skills are not incorporated enough in the curriculum.   Teaching of Content versus Developing Skills: Amid all the fuss about the choice of subjects and the college or university to be atte...

    Empowering people is the right way out of the economic crisis The Indian economy had already entered a period of slowdown before the corona virus crisis hit the market. There were clear indications of a slowdown gripping the economy just before the pandemic started showing impacts. This was the third occurrence of an economic slowdown for India in the past decade after those that began in June 2008 and March 2011. In technical term it would be called growth recession. Generally three subsequent quarters of contraction in GDP is called recession in an economy. But since India is a large developing country contraction is nothing uncommon. A growth recession is generally observed when the economy continues to grow but at a slower pace than the usual for a prolonged period, much like what India has been facing nowadays. India’s growth rate has dropped to 5% in the first quarter of Financial Year 2020, the lowest in over six years. In the words of economist Raj Krishna the gr...